LaservsLesernWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Laser” and “Lesern” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,743
“Laser” frequency rank
#11,473
“Lesern” frequency rank
20216
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laser Lesern
Definition Quelle für intensives, gerichtetes und kohärentes Licht nur eines kleinen Wellenlängenbereichs (monochromatisch) Dativ Plural des Substantivs Leser

Where the eye mixes Laser and Lesern

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Laser
6 ch
Lesern

Look-alike desk: Laser vs Lesern

A purely visual mix-up. Laser ([ˈlɛɪ̯zɐ]) and Lesern ([ˈleːzɐn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20216, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Laser is recorded at frequency rank #8,743, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛɪ̯zɐ]. Lesern is at rank #11,473, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːzɐn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 20216, this pair ranks #1,900,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Laser vs Lesern

Shared letters: elrs. Private to "Laser": a. Private to "Lesern": n.

"Laser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Lesern" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laseralser · laesr · laserr · lasre · lasser · llaser · lsaer
  • Lesernelsern · leesrn · lesenr · lesernn · leserrn · lesren · lessern · llesern

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laser" and "Lesern" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛɪ̯zɐ] versus [ˈleːzɐn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Laser" or "Lesern" show up more?
"Laser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,743 in our German list, against #11,473 for "Lesern". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Laser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lesern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,900,081 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Laser" and "Lesern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lasern vs Lesern". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,900,081 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list